Death toll confirmed 64
The death toll from a sunken ferry off South Korea’s south coast rose to 64 early Monday as search operations were set to resume for a sixth day following the disaster. Hopes of finding any survivors were fading rapidly as none of the 302 missing passengers have been found alive since the 6,825-ton ferry Sewol […]
Korean government loses trust
Families attempt protest march to Cheong Wa Dae JINDO — Over 100 people tried to make their way to Seoul to see President Park Geun-hye Sunday morning. Most of them were family members of those still missing from the ferry Sewol that sank Wednesday morning. They were angry that the government was mishandling search and […]
Drama sets becoming ‘ghost towns’
The sensational drama series “My Love From the Star” is elevating “hallyu” or the Korean wave to new levels. It has created a positive overflow, particularly in the tourism sector as the locations where the drama was shot have become tourist hot spots. But how long will they continue to draw tourists? Years after they […]
Collective insensitivity to safety
Once again human error was behind the nation’s biggest maritime disaster in over two decades. Experts said Friday that the capsizing of the ferry Sewol involved violations of many regulations and poor safety precautions practiced by its crew and enforced by the government. On top of the captain and other crewmembers’ unprofessional behavior during the […]
Death toll rises to 36, no new survivors found
JINDO ― Only sobs and moans sounded in a gymnasium in Jindo, South Jeolla Province, where friends and family of passengers who went missing in the ferry Sewol’s accident gathered to watch a video clip of two divers going underwater and attempting to enter the ship, Saturday. The video, however, only demonstrated the difficulty of […]
Please, be alive
JINDO ― An odd sense of helplessness mixed with hope prevailed at Paengmok Port, Friday. The families of more than 200 students and other passengers in the sunken Sewol ferry appeared ready to hold on to any sign of hope on the third day after the vessel capsized. The bulbous bow of the overturned boat […]
Jeju Island: a true traveler’s gem
This is an article written by a foreign student participating in the “Must-See Routes” program organized by the Visit Korea Committee. It is the final of three articles published in The Korea Times’ tourism section. — ED. The flight from Seoul to Jeju Island took no longer than an hour. By the time I opened […]
Korean games popular in China, Japan
Critics argue tough regulations curb growth potential K-pop’s rise is fast and furious, representing the country’s booming cultural industry. Yet this doesn’t mean K-pop is the most profitable export item among cultural products. Guess what the No.1 is? Computer games. According to the state-run Korea Finance Corporation, Korea’s games exports in 2012, the latest date, […]
Five-year-old girl the only survivor of family
Among the youngest survivors rescued from the ferry Sewol that sank off the southwestern coast was a 5-year-old girl, and her story touches many. Her mother, father and older brother are still missing. The girl, identified as Kwon, is being taken care of at Hankuk Hospital in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, It was a moving […]
Captain, gov’t under fire
The captain of the ill-fated Sewol ferry is the focus of public outrage after it became known that he and six other crewmembers were among the first to be rescued when the vessel was sinking. Captain Lee Joon-seok, along with a chief engineer surnamed Sohn and other crews, was escaped from the 6,835-ton ferry Sewol […]